In a similar vein I'd like to humbly offer my own work on the "ramp"
retina of the horse eye as an example of academic myths that are often
perpetuated for extended periods of time (Sivak, J. & Allen, D. 1975. An
evaluation of the "ramp" retina of the horse eye. Vision Research, Vol.
15 pp. 1353-56.)
For years all of the comarative optometry books had stated that horses
had a "ramp" retina - one part of the retina was closer to the lens. This
was stated to be an accommodative mechanism for the horse. This
originally stemmed from the work of Nicholas in 1930 and was perpetuated
year after year by other authors without question. The error was
uncovered when my buddy Jake stopped by my farm. As we were talking over
a couple of beers Jake said, "Do you know why your horses are moving
their heads up and down all the time?". I said, "Sure, it's because the
flies are bothering them". "No" he said, "It's because the have a ramp
retina and when they lift their head they're focused for distance and when
they put it down they're focused on the grass". I told Jake that he was
full of beans & he told me that he could prove it. He got an
ophthalmoscope from his car & I got a horse in from the pasture. After we
had looked at ten horses & found no evidence of the "ramp" we went to a
slaughter house & collected several dozen eyes for measurement (gross but
necessary). The rest is history.
I like telling this story to students because it illustrates the
wonderful self-correcting nature of scientific inquiry. We may get it
wrong now & again, but skeptical researchers will eventually uncover the
real goods.
Cheers, -D.
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Don Allen email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Dept. of Psychology voice: (604)-323-5871
Langara College fax: (604)-323-5555
100 W. 49th Ave.
Vancouver, B.C.
Canada, V5Y 2Z6
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